End of a long road
by Vladimir-spider
Summary: He stood on a hill of swords, all alone, intoxicated by victory. But after a long, long time he sees the path ahead of him. Maybe his journey wasn't meant to end at this hill after all?


**Disclaimer: I don't own Fate/Stay Night.**

End of a long road

For a long time he stood on that hill of swords. Swords, lances, knives, all manner of blades were sticking out of him. Every moment he spent here he cursed his ideal for landing him here.

He thought he would be able to save people. And he certainly did. By killing people, that is.

For someone who with his whole heart desired to save everyone, it was pure hell. Alaya summoned him as a cleaner. He rarely directly saved people these days, mostly he was kiliing and killing and killing and killing...

He saved thousands more people by his actions but he didn't care. He never wanted to kill people. The fact that he had no choice broke him, and he blamed the ideal.

But the ideal itself couldn't condemn him to his fate. It was just an ideal after all, not a concious being. Then he blamed himself for taking up that ideal, that dream of everyone being saved.

So he tried to kill himself. The past himself, that is.

Throughout many timelines he saw many versions of himself. Some were ridicilously strong, some were just like him when he was their age, some were entirely different from the past him.

But mostly Shirou Emiya followed that stupid ideal of making everyone happy and saving everyone. Sometimes he abandoned it, like that time with Sakura. Sometimes he tried to uphold it to such a degree that Shirou and he came to blows, though it was mostly him trying to kill Shirou.

One time he fought a version of Shirou that through seeing his abilities quickly became more and more powerful until accessing the reality marble FAR earlier that he was supposed to. Through battle with this version of himself he realized some important things.

He was never wrong. His ideal was not wrong. In fact, he still considered it beautiful. He was just unlucky, a fact that he knew for a long time.

Maybe it was Alaya's fault, maybe it was him being too naive back then, but he decided that his dream, his ideal was not wrong.

He was right. It was just that the result wasn't what he hoped for.

And so he stood on that hill of swords, finally free of his regrets. Ahh, but he still had one. But he had all but forgot about it. It's not like he could change anything anymore.

But as he thought this, he heard a sound. Footsteps. He looked back and saw a figure.

It was a man with dark skin, white hair, steel-grey eyes and black body armour. Strangely, no red overcoat. It was himself, it couldn't be more obvious. Blades of all kinds were sticking out of his body, just like him. As that version of him approached him, more blades pierced him. The figure didn't waver and kept walking.

Then the second him reached him. Looking over the world of infinite swords, he stood still for a moment. Then... he kept walking. As he descended the hill of swords, more and more blades pierced his body, but he still kept walking.

Then, the second him turned to look at him. And only asked him a single thing.

"Can you keep up with me?"

Then the second him continued walking. He couldn't see him anymore. But that single question woke something long forgotten by him.

"Heh"

Emiya Shirou was stubborn. He was fine with losing to anyone. But he would NEVER lose to himself.

Even now he was being summoned by Alaya to do its dirty work. But even so, he took a step forward. And a sword immediately pierced him. He paid no mind to it.

With every step he took more blades stuck out of his body. But he didn't care. If that other him could do it, then he could do it.

Alaya sent him out more and more, as if getting more and more desperate. Each step was seemingly harder and harder. He wasn't even looking where he was going anymore. He just meticilously made step after step.

Then... a sword fell out of him. Then with the next step another one. And another and another. By the time he reached his destination he was free from the blades impaling him. It didn't even seem like he was hurt before. And Alaya... somehow was silent now.

Only at this moment he could appreciate what he saw.

There was grass here. Trees were here. It was an entrance to the forest.

Then he understood.

"Ah..."

His long-forgotten search was nearly over. And more importantly, her long wait is soon coming to an end.

As he got through the forest, he saw a blond girl standing alone in a grass field. And as she opened her eyes, she saw him, too. A smile appeared on her face and tears appeared at the corners of her eyes, but she didn't move. No, it was his role.

And soon he reached her. As he looked at her, he found only one appropriate thing to say.

"I'm back, Saber."

"Yes. Welcome back, Shirou."


End file.
